The frightening account of one of the most frightening extreme weather events our country has ever seen.
In 1974, the most destructive tropical cyclone recorded in Australia's history devastated Darwin on Christmas Eve, turning the city into a war zone.
I had no idea how gut-wrenchingly horrific it would be.
While working on my book, and reading a few passages here and there, I found myself reliving the memories I'd thought were long forgotten. I found the retelling very therapeutic as I began to realize just how traumatic it had been on that terrible night so long ago, and how badly I was still affected by the event.
I recalled the wails of the sirens and the demonic sound of the wind as invisible hands snatched friends' loved ones away, while the walls, ceilings, and eventually the floorboards vanished from beneath their feet. I remembered the war-like, bombed-out devastation that greeted us as we crawled out from beneath the rubble while the rain continued drizzling down on that fateful Christmas morning, grateful still to be alive.
How it was that so many survived that brutal, unforgiving night will forever remain a mystery to me.
This story is about not only the survival of the cyclone but also the survival of the aftermath.
